Hiding the Law Under a Blanket

Best Western Kuta Hotel Ignores Closure Order by Covering Up the Official Closure Order Posted at its Interest.

Click Image to Enlarge

(5/23/2011)

Threats by the owner of the Best Western Kuta Hotel, now renamed as the Sapta Petala, to file a legal suit against the Badung regency government in the administrative courts remain unfulfilled. Badung officials say no formal notice has been received of any proceeding initiated against the regency by the illegal hotel’s owner, Wayan Wijana, or his lawyer, Wayan Wesna Astara.

Regency official told NusaBali that the Best Western Kuta is entitled to make any legal challenge it chooses to the regency's decision to close the hotel, a legal challenge the Regency says it is fully prepared to answer. Less clear, however, is the Hotel’s owners legal right to unilaterally place a cloth over the closure notice posted by Badung enforcement officials declaring the hotel closed. Enforcement officials say the hotel’s actions last week in covering the official closure notice represent a criminal violation of statutes forbidding the removal or damaging of any official seal installed by their office.

According to a report in the Bali Post, the hotel continues to operate.

The blatant resistance to official closure of the hotel is prompting Badung legislators to call for criminal charges to be laid against the hotel’s owner and for steps to be taken to tear down the hotel.